A Cure for Boils
by sxcond
Summary: 17th century England no-magic AU. Severus Snape is an apothecary owner and doctor. Lily Evans is a beautiful village girl who's been ostracised due to rumours of her being a witch.


Falmouth Falcons Chaser 1: Potion: Cure for Boils Potion

Prompts: Dominoes, Coffee, Frost

First and last word: Years. (7 is a number.)

* * *

 **7 YEARS AGO**

James laughed. "Come on, Marietta. Jump!"

* * *

 **SEVERUS SNAPE**

 **19 OCTOBER 1645**

 **X**

The rusting bell above the apothecary shop tinkled and the antiquated door opened. A gust of wind blew from the south, carrying the scent of frost. Someone shuffled inside.

"E—Excuse me?" a girl with a high-pitched voice called. "I—Is D—Dr. Severus Snape present?"

Snape exhaled with much disgruntlement and looked up from his parchment. "What do you want?"

He almost recoiled upon seeing her face. Round pustules covered her face so thoroughly that it was red and white all over and for a second, he imagined that maggots had burrowed into her face with only their white tail end visible. She seemed more like a beast of the neighbouring forest than any human.

Certainly, she was far uglier than Lily.

"I—I seek a potion; a cure for boils," the girl continued.

"Yes, I can see that." He sneered and took up another parchment from the stack on his table. He scribbled down her order into the accounting table on that parchment and said, "that will cost two shillings. Do remember to bring the money."

The girl flushed furiously and shrieked, "H—How terribly rude of you! And this malediction that befell upon my visage was no fault of mine! The witch had cursed me!"

His fist trembled beside him. Snape stifled his fury and his hand stilled.

He snorted. "Magic? Curses? Are you as old as centenarian you look? The recent Copernican Revolution has revealed that such hocus-pocus tricks are merely that: hocus-pocus. As for that witch you're speaking of—are you entirely certain that your belief was born out of rational cogitation and not insipid envy and empty speculation?"

"W—What?"

"Oh, don't play the fool. Your lust for the affections of Lord Potter is clear as day, as is your jaundiced eye when you watch Ms. Evans."

The girl gaped. "Baseless accusations! Slander!"

"Yes, I'm glad you've recognised your crimes against the innocent Ms. Evans."

The girl shrieked and yanked at her hat while she began to exit the door.

"Return in thirteen day's time to receive your potion," Snape said coldly.

The girl stopped and bristled. "V—Very well."

The door closed.

* * *

 **MARIETTA EDGECOMBE**

 **19 OCTOBER 1645**

 **X**

"Why won't he love me?" Marietta sobbed into her mother's red-and-white checkered apron.

"Sweetie, let him go. He doesn't deserve you. Abandoning his bosom friend of ten years—what a knave! I pity that poor Evans girl, too blinded by his romantics to look past his mask."

' _Poor? I think not. Not only is she from an affluent household, she has him.'_ Marietta sobbed harder. "But mother, I love him! Even after everything he's done—I still love him."

"Pardon? What has he done?" Mrs. Edgecombe asked sharply. "Did he knock you up? Why, that bastard, I oughta—"

"No!"

"Then? What is it?" asked Mrs. Edgecombe, but Marietta had determinedly clammed up.

Mrs. Edgecombe sighed. "Now, now, dry your tears. Perhaps a trip to town might cure your humours."

Marietta sniffled and forced a smile. "Alright, mother."

It was alright.

Everything would be alright once the Cure for Boils Potion cured her affliction. Everyone would stop laughing at her behind her back and flinching. James wouldn't have to look at her face— the constant reminder of what he'd done—and his guilt would abate. He could fall in love with her instead. And maybe kind, gentle Lily who she's heard so much about would even become her companion.

It was as Mr. Snape had said. Horrible and perfunctory as he'd been, he was right. She had been shamefully jealous, and in a fit of jealousy and resentment, she'd spat those ugly words towards someone entirely undeserving of it.

"Goodbye, mother! I'll be back before sunset," Marietta called and unlocked the deadbolt on their wooden door.

* * *

 **MARIETTA EDGECOMBE**

 **19 OCTOBER 1645**

 **X**

Marietta walked down the twisted cobblestones of the street. Mud clung to the bottom of her skirt, and for a second, she wished she was young again, at an age where wearing knee-length skirts weren't an offence to propriety.

Her eyes caught a flash of red.

"Lily?" Marietta said. The words had slipped out, unbidden.

The girl beside her stopped.

With her black, muddy dress and dull brown hair, Marietta felt woefully inadequate next to Lily. Though Lily wore a white dress and the mud at its hem was even more glaring than hers, she still seemed more beautiful in every way. Her hair was a brilliant red, and her lips were full like petals on a rose. She was more alive in every way.

Lily's long, dainty fingers reached up to touched her hat. "Yes? Do I know you from somewhere, perhaps?" Lily inquired and flinched when she saw Marietta's face.

Marietta hesitated. "No."

"O—Oh. Alright."

Shame and, surprisingly, disappointment crushed her the moment Lily left. She didn't know why, but she'd hoped that Lily would be different from all those people who'd made fun of her.

All the village girls said that Lily was a witch, of course. But everyone else had also mentioned how kind and friendly she was.

' _What a farce,'_ Marietta thought. ' _She's just like everyone else: two-faced, superficial, quick to judge.'_

' _How could James have fallen for her? That vixen must have tricked him somehow. She must have bewitched him. She must have bewitched him and cursed me to drive him away and take my rightful place.'_

"Oh, Lord Almighty…." Marietta mumbled. Her hands were clasping her mouth and quivering in unadulterated fear. The final judgement came quick.

Her otherworldly beauty. Her congenial mask and hidden malice.

Marietta gasped. There had only ever been one conclusion.

"She's a witch," she whispered.

(Secretly, Marietta was glad that Lily Evans was a witch. It made it that much easier to portray herself as the courageous hero and Lily the villain to be struck down.)

* * *

 **LILY EVANS**

 **19 OCTOBER 1645**

 **X**

"James, I met someone rather odd on my way back. Is it another one of your admirers, perhaps?" Lily asked, arranging the bouquet of tulips in the vase on the table.

"Oh, you know what they're like. It's best to ignore those harpies."

"Yes, but there was something in her eyes—I could see an immeasurable sadness in them. You used to be quite a rake, so it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that the girl had expected more than a fling. If you had battered her heart, I think it's only right for you to apologise," Lily elaborate carefully.

James faked a yawn. "Will you marry me tomorrow if I agree to?"

Lily turned away from her flower to scrutinize him. "Perchance, I might," she said, a smile playing on her lips.

"Very well," he said. "What does she look like?"

"Curly brown hair, black dress, a pale face," Lily listed, "and,"—she hesitated—"a few pustules on it."

"Ah. Marietta Edgecombe." James stood abruptly. "I'm sorry Lily, but I must renege on my promise. I cannot meet her."

" _Excusez-moi_? Why?"

"I'm afraid you'll loathe me once you know," he said with great anguish.

* * *

 **7 YEARS AGO**

"B—But what if I fall? I might break my neck, or my, o—or worse—my fingers!" Marietta cried, thoroughly frightened and yet, delighted to be the centre of James's attention.

"Awww, don't fret so much, Mari! You'll age a decade at this rate," James teased.

Marietta inhaled. She jumped off the bridge into the river.

"Oh," Marietta said vaguely. It was too late to move out of the way.

She hit the stone.

"MARIETTA!"

* * *

 **7 YEARS AGO**

The cuts in her face acquired from the fall became infected and stayed infected, even seven years later. From then on, she was ugly and, out of guilt for marring the feature that would secure a husband and thus a future, James never spoke to her again.

She never told anyone what James had done in hopes that he would return.

But he never did.

* * *

 **SEVERUS SNAPE**

 **22 OCTOBER 1645**

 **X**

"Have you heard? Ronnie saw the High Inquisitor in his inn today! I hope she punishes the witch, then Lord Potter will finally be free of her black magic at last."

Snape sneered. "Move out of the way."

The two girls instantly parted from each other and he stepped past.

"Mrs. Smith told me last week that Dr. Snape was close to Lily Evans once. Perhaps he'd shaken free of her enchantment on him and decided to leave her."

Snape clenched his fist but walked on. Lily didn't need any magic to enthrall him.

* * *

 **MARIETTA EDGECOMBE**

 **28 OCTOBER 1645**

 **X**

Room 14. Marietta knocked on the door. It opened instantly.

"Come in, dearie," High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge commanded sweetly, drinking a cup of coffee.

' _Coffee,'_ Marietta thought. ' _She must be rather rich to afford that.'_

"Have some tea," Umbridge said.

"N—No thank you," Marietta replied, biting her nails. Her heart pounded noisily, nervously. "I can't stay for long, the witch might d—discover me through her s—scrying m—mirror otherwise."

Marietta took a shuddering breath.

"Well, well, you have nothing to fear. The witch will be exterminated before she has any chance to lay her hands on you. Now, who's the witch?" Umbridge asked. She leaned forwards with an eager, happy upturn to her eyes.

"It's—Lily Evans."

 _(And the_ _dominoes_ _fell.)_

* * *

 **SEVERUS SNAPE**

 **30 OCTOBER 1645**

 **X**

The rusting bell above the apothecary shop tinkled and the antiquated door opened. A gust of wind blew from the south, carrying the scent of smoke and ash. Someone shuffled inside.

"Salutations, Dr. Snape," the girl from before said, twisting a lock of hair between her fingers. "I'm here for my Cure for Boils Potion."

Her stutter had vanished entirely, Snape observed. And she lacked that hunted look of a mouse she'd worn the last time she came. They were peculiarly quick changes, but it wasn't his problem. Snape set a vial of indigo-coloured liquid on the counter. "Two shillings. Pay up."

"If I may ask, who's burning at the stake today?" he continued, curious.

"Oh, Lily Evans."

Snape choked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Lily Evans," the girl said. She smiled suddenly, looking inexplicably proud. "You know, it was I who had the courage to stand up to her and confess her sins to the High Inquisitor."

Snape was silent for a moment. "Truly? Then I suppose I'll have to reward your deed accordingly. I'll prepare another vial of Cure for Boils Potion for you at no cost. Do return tomorrow to collect it, madame…?"

The girl flushed. "Marietta Edgecombe, Doctor. And thank you for your generosity."

"No need to thank me."

His eyes watered as if smoke and embers had touched them. A tear crawled down his cheek.

After the girl left, Snape went to the back of his storeroom. He pulled out a flask of pufferfish poison and poured a teaspoon into a vial of Cure For Boils Potion.

He'd loved Lily for thirteen years.

* * *

fin.


End file.
